


Deserve To Survive

by Bossanovababy24



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 09:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5963011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bossanovababy24/pseuds/Bossanovababy24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Weeks after the events at Polis, Marcus Kane and Abby Griffin have trouble on their hands as bodies start appearing, their deaths seemingly unrelated. They need to figure out who is killing their people or else not only is the (still rocky) coalition at risk, but so are the lives of every one they hold dear... including each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. God's Gonna Cut You Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [richliga](https://archiveofourown.org/users/richliga/gifts).



> This was going to stay gathering dust on my laptop but one of my best friends, known on here as Richliga, threatened that if I didn't post it, she would. So here you have it, my first foray in to The 100 fic - please be patient with me, the first 2 chapters were already written but anything after that will be off the cuff writing.
> 
> I resolve to actually finish this one... and no doubt Richliga will beat me over the head constantly until I do!
> 
> Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1

“This is the second one in the past four weeks, sir.”

“You’re sure it’s the same perpetrator?”

“No, but… well, this ain’t exactly normal in our boundaries.”

Marcus Kane crossed his arms and sighed as he looked down at the body. It was a boy, not even a man, his eyes glassy as he stared up at the stars. It was fitting really in some sick and cruel way, Marcus thought, the kid in death looking absently up to where he was born. There were clearly signs of a struggle; the flattened earth, the awkward angle of limbs, the bruises around his throat that had blossomed the longer the two men stood there.

Strangulation.

Someone strangled this boy to death.

“Sir,” Marcus looked back at the guard beside him. He had found the body a little over an hour ago, “did you want me to report to the Chancellor?”

It was 3am. He and Abby Griffin had finished reviewing reports at around midnight and had called it quits a little after 1am. She had yawned and said she was actually tired (a comment that brought about laughter due to her usual sleep cycle) and would retire for the night. If she was getting much needed sleep, no way would he wake her for this. Besides, they wouldn’t be able to do anything for the boy tonight except move him somewhere quiet. The people couldn’t see this or there would be mass panic.

“No, Duncan, that’s alright. I’ll tell her in the morning,” Marcus replied absentmindedly, patting the guard once on the shoulder before turning his attention once again to the body lying at his feet, “anything you can tell me about him? I recognise his face but for the life of me I can’t think from where.”

“I saw him round a couple of times. Don’t know his name but I think he delivered messages from time to time for a small price. He was a nobody.”

“A nobody.”

Marcus crouched down by the boy and gently moved a stray lock of brown hair out of the way of those unseeing eyes. Who would do such a thing?

“Well this ‘nobody’ was killed for a damn reason,” he stated, “and that makes him a somebody… and I’m going to find out who did this.”

The guard nodded and moved over to the legs. Together, they hauled the body up in to their arms and slowly made their way towards the remains of the Ark station. As they ploughed ahead, Marcus caught sight of the large sign that now proudly greeted their people: Arkadia.

He smiled bitterly. Named after Arcadia, a place known for the innocent of its people. How long before the innocence of their people would be shattered entirely?

It would seem that they certainly needed to pick better names. 

****

Marcus got back to his quarters just after the sun had started to rise.

After depositing the body somewhere where others would not find it and covering it reverently with some discarded cloth, he has set out speaking to the guards who had been stationed in that particular area. Someone must have heard something.

After hours of wandering around, questioning, he had come to two conclusions: nobody heard or saw anything and nobody cared.

Guards who knew the kid better had termed him a ‘rat’, one of the many who lived only to make their own lives difficult. Others who did not know the victim so well had merely offered suppositions such as ‘well he shouldn’t have been wandering around this late’ or ‘kid must have been lookin’ for trouble’. 3 hours Marcus had spent patiently listening to possible witnesses and he had only come away with less hope that he could help bring the murderer to justice.

If nobody cared the boy was dead, who would care whether the criminal was caught?

“I would care,” Marcus sighed as he shed his jacket and threw it over a desk chair beside him.

“Care about what?”

He whipped around, surprised, and was confronted with Abby, leaning against his doorway with her arms crossed in front of her. Though there was no smile on her lips, he could see a small glint of amusement in her eyes and he knew that she would no doubt mock him endlessly for talking aloud to himself... except now he would have to tell her about the body.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” He tried to distract her, pushing and pulling at his jacket until it hung just right on the chair to prevent further creases.

“I did for about an hour,” Abby replied easily, “but I’m a light sleeper and I was woken by the strangest noises you see.”

Marcus could see where this was going but let her continue anyway.

“It sounded like two people carrying a heavy load, just outside the walls of my quarters. Of course, no-one would be transporting goods at 3am so I went outside to investigate. Whoever they were, they were gone but they left a bit of a mess behind them so I followed the trail-“

“-Abby, I-“

“- and came across a dead body.”

Her eyes lost that amusement, replaced by a stony resignation. She wanted answers.

“What’s going on, Marcus?”

“There’s been another incident.”

“I saw that,” Abby replied sharply, “any similarities to the last one?”

Marcus thought back to the first body. It had happened about three weeks ago just as they had returned from being made the thirteenth clan by the Grounders leader, Lexa. They had come in through the gates of Arkadia, their thoughts not at all on the decision they had made but instead on the devastation at Mount Weather. The entirety of Farm Station (bar a few) gone within minutes, wiped out much like the previous inhabitants.

A troubled guard met them at the gate and pulled both Marcus and Abby aside, leading them round the back of the giant structure that they called home. Sitting in a small alcove, propped up against the wall was a young girl. She was no older than 16, her skin as ashen as the wall she rested against and contrasting greatly against the red that covered her face and torso. If it wasn’t for the grotesque arc of blood that started at her cheeks and concluded at her midriff, she could have been sleeping.

Marcus remembered the look of horror on Abby’s face as her eyes ghosted over the body. He knew what she was thinking, this young girl could have been her daughter, could have been Clarke, right up until she closed down. Her walls were up as she ordered the guard to move the body, somewhere where their people couldn’t see it. For the last three weeks, they had been shuffling their responsibilities and trying to fit in further investigations to find out who did this but it had been ultimately futile.

“Aside from their possible age? Nothing,” Marcus said, taking a step closer to Abby. She didn’t move away as he drew closer, something he would have thought of as impossible when they were up in space, “this one was male, looks like he was strangled and it happened after dark. Nothing to connect the two.”

“I know you, Marcus, I hear a ‘but’,” Abby unfolded her arms and her eyes met his, scrutinising his expression, “what are you thinking?”

He didn’t take his eyes off of her as he mulled over what he wanted to say. There was no obvious connection and yet…

“I am thinking…” he responded finally, “… that we need to keep an open mind on this one. I feel like there is something here, something that I can’t quite put my finger on.”

“Okay then,” Abby stood up straight and gently placed her hand on Marcus’ arm, drawing his entire attention back to her, “then for now, until proven otherwise, we treat these as connected.”

Marcus smiled at her and Abby met him with a melancholy upturn of her lips. 

A knock just outside the wall interrupted them and they both looked out the doorway where a guard stood, impatiently moving from one foot to the other. 

“Chancellor,” the guard greeted Abby and returned it with a soft nod of her head.

“Wilkins?” Marcus asked, moving away from Abby and signalling the guard to enter his quarters. 

“Yessir.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I just started my shift and heard some guards talking. They mentioned you found another body, they said he was murdered.”

Marcus saw Abby tense suddenly. If the guards were talking, no doubt everyone would know by nightfall the next day. 

“We have come to no conclusions as of yet, Wilkins. I ask that, until we make it public knowledge, you do not discuss this matter any further.”

“Yessir, I understand but it’s just that…” Wilkins looked uncertain as he pushed on, “I knew of both of the victims and I wanted to bring it to your attention as I think there is a connection that you might want to know about.”

“A connection?” Abby prodded, her attention fully on the guard.

“Yes, Chancellor,” Wilkins replied, “they were both among the first sent down to Earth.”

Marcus turned to Abby and they both felt like some unknown clue had fallen in to place though they couldn’t quite see the whole puzzle yet.

“They were both in the one hundred.”


	2. One Piece at a Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter and only other one I've fully completed - anything past this is me writing whatever comes out of my head at night mwahaha
> 
> A big thanks to Richliga for her enthusiastic response and looking it over for me!

CHAPTER 2

****

_“Mom!”_

_“Clarke!”_

_Abby raced through the forest, pushing past errant branches and the thick underbrush as the voice of her daughter got louder._

_“Mom! Help me!”_

_“Clarke, honey, stay where you are! I’m nearly there!” She toppled forward against a tree and felt the dull pain of her skin scraping against the bark and drawing blood. Her daughter was in trouble, she needed to keep going. Abby forced herself away from the tree and round it, continuing to push her physical limits._

_“Mom! I can’t- Mom!” Clarke screamed. She was close, Abby could hear her now just a little farther. Just a little bit-_

_“Clarke!” She dodged another tree and saw a sudden glint of golden hair amongst the undergrowth. Her daughter was laid out in the clearing, her voice still echoing ‘mom’ as she got fainter and fainter. Abby fell to her hands and knees, scrabbling closer until she was right next to Clarke. Her precious Clarke who was… caked in blood._

_“No,” Abby gasped, cradling Clarke’s face in her shaking hands, “no, no, no…”_

_“Mom,” Clarke rasped. She clutched her stomach which Abby could see was seeping blood. It mixed with the ground beneath her and stained it a deep red. Abby took one hand and pressed it firmly over Clarke’s, noting how cold and clammy the skin felt._

_“Just hold on, Clarke, okay?” her voice broke as she felt tears run down her face, “just keep with me. Help is on the way, just stay with me. You hear me, honey? Stay with me!”_

_Clarke gave a faint nod but her eyes started to close._

_“No, no, don’t close your eyes,” Abby gently patted her daughter’s face, rousing the young girl from her desire to sleep, “keep them open for me. Come on, just keep putting pressure on it, you’ll be fine.”_

_“I’ll… be… fine,” Clarke whispered raggedly, staring up to the sky, “but what… about… them?”_

_“Who?” Abby pressed, “what about who?”_

_“Them…” one of Clarke’s hand dropped away from her stomach and hit the ground, pointing out in to the forest._

_Abby looked up and followed the hand that directed her to-_

_-bodies._

_At least 30, scattered across the clearing. Abby choked back a cry and could only look on in horror as she identified those closest to them._

_Monty, his now dead eyes wide with fright, neck slit… Jasper, on his front, hand reaching out to grasp at the air, back littered with stab wounds… Octavia, the black paint around her eyes disturbed by dry tear tracks as she looks out, right at Abby, her body mutilated beyond belief…_

_“You… can’t…. save us…” Clarke faltered, her voice now tapering off as she started to close her eyes once more._

_“No,” Abby cried, clutching at her daughter more desperately, “I can save you, I can save you all! Just tell me who did this to you!”_

_Clarke’s eyes shot open wide and met Abby’s with an uncontainable fury. Her grip tightened on Abby’s hand and her voice shook with a forceful rage:_

_“You did!”_

****

“Abby? Abby, wake up!”

With the very same sensation of someone coming up out of water after nearly drowning, Abby startled and pushed herself up. Her heart was racing and sweat was beading on her forehead, slowly descending downwards.

She could feel something soft beneath her – a sofa? Yes, a sofa.

Her surroundings started to seep in around her; desks, chairs, computers and files, so many files… but where was the forest and the-? suddenly she was thrown down to earth with more force than the Ark station hitting the ground.

“I was asleep…” she murmured softly, wiping at her forehead.

There was movement beside her and she turned to stare in to a pair of warm brown and _very_ concerned eyes.

“I think ‘asleep’ is a very loose term,” Marcus replied. There was the hint of a smile on his lips as he said it, no doubt proud of his little comment, and Abby breathed out a sigh of relief before falling back in to the sofa’s embrace.

“How long have I been out?” she asked as she tried to shake her thoughts away from the forest and the accusations.

“About an hour.”

“An hour? Why didn’t you wake me?”

Marcus shrugged and busied himself with a file, content to look at the pages before him.

“You need all the sleep you can get with everything going on. Our coalition with the Grounders, the murder investigation, the upcoming elections…”

Abby groaned and pulled a cushion out from under her head, covering her face with it.

“Don’t remind me,” came her muffled response and Marcus chuckled.

“Come on now, Abby,” he dropped the file and pulled the cushion away from her face, revealing a worn grimace, “we agreed. The people need to decide this for themselves.”

Abby didn’t respond, content to lay back on the sofa and think. She didn’t want an election, she just wanted to hand the pins and the Chancellor position over to Marcus directly. Opening the choice up to the people merely provided them all an opportunity to bring her down, question her abilities of being both doctor and Chancellor, much the same as Raven had.

“How are we coming along with the murder inquiry?” She asked instead and watched now as Marcus was the one to grimace. He picked the file that he had been reading back up and showed her the name attached to it.

“Cassandra Miller, our first victim.”

The girl with the dirty blonde hair, thin, pale-

_Blood oozing slowly from the gaping wound in her stomach._

_“Mom…”_

_Clarke’s gaunt face, her eyes accusing._

_“YOU DID THIS!”_

“Abby?”

She shook her head and looked back up at Marcus. He had closed the file and was hovering closer to her, clearly unsure as to what she was thinking about or what he could do to help.

“I’m fine. Carry on.”

The assertive tone didn’t fool him but he pressed on anyway.

“She was due for a review but instead was transferred down to earth with the others. Crime was…” he flicked over the page, “… stealing apparently.”

“Any idea what she stole?”

“A knife.”

“A knife,” the girl was likely to have been floated for stealing a knife, “and what about the boy?”

“Noah Sykes, known as a bit of a space station urchin. Did much worse than Cassandra, arrested for trying to suffocate a classmate who was mocking his clothes.”

“He tried to _suffocate_ a classmate for bullying him?”

“His family history is a mess, the boy was considered a write-off the moment he was born as far as I can tell. Mother died during childbirth, father a drunk… it’s a stereotype but one that he gladly slotted himself in to.”

Abby shook her head.

“Whatever crime had them sent down here, these kids are being picked out specifically. Do we have any idea why?

Marcus sighed and pushed himself back in to the sofa. Both sat in comfortable silence, thinking of the two kids who lost their lives just as a fresh start had unfurled in front of them both.

“My theory?” Marcus said eventually, looking over at Abby. She tucked her feet underneath her and signalled for him to pursue his thoughts, “my theory is that they are being targeted because of what they did.”

Abby remained silent.

“Think about it. Cassandra steals a knife and we find her dead, multiple stab wounds. Noah tries to suffocate a classmate and we find him strangled to death.”

“They’re being punished for their crimes,” Abby breathed, shocked as the words hung between them. These kids had committed crimes and, as they escaped the noose of the airlock, they were being hunted down one by one and having their lives taken in some grotesque reflection of how they lived.

“Marcus…” she reached out blindly and felt the warmth of his grip on her hand. Her mind was too busy reeling through the possibilities to quite appreciate the skin-on-skin contact and the security his hand offered her, “any one of them could be next.”

“We’ll find them, Abby,” Marcus assured her, his grip tightening slightly as if he could feel the fear radiating from her, “nothing will happen to Clarke. Nothing will happen to _any_ of them.”

Abby nodded but knew that it was an impossible promise for him to make. After all, as Clarke had said in her dream, wasn’t it entirely their own fault?

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you're all enjoying it, will post next chapter when it's finished (already halfway through writing it)!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are both very nice, but mainly I am just glad that there isn't a 'throw vegetables' button! I hope you have enjoyed, more to follow!


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